spacetoday.net: Leonardo installed on ISS

Posted: Wed, Mar 2, 2011, 7:55 AM ET (1255 GMT)
STS-133: Leonardo attached to station (NASA/ESA)

A module that has previously been used to ferry cargo to and from the ISS has now been permanently installed on the station. STS-133 and station astronauts installed the Permanent Multipurpose Module Leonardo to the Earth-facing node of the Unity module Tuesday morning, and opened the hatch to the cargo module later in the day. Leonardo had previously been used on several shuttle missions as a cargo carrier, temporarily attached to the station to transfer cargo to and from the station. Leonardo will now remain permanently attached to the station, providing additional storage space. Meanwhile, Russian officials nix plans to fly a Soyuz spacecraft around the station while the shuttle is still docked, citing concerns about using the newest variant of the Soyuz spacecraft for an unplanned mission. ISS managers had hoped to get a unique "family portrait" of the station with Russian, European, Japanese, and American spacecraft all docked to it. The next major milestone of the STS-133 mission is an EVA by Steve Bowen and Al Drew, the second of the mission, on Wednesday.